OTHER VOICES

Decent wages key to U.S. fiscal crisis

By Lorne ListerSpecial to the Star-Banner

Published: Sunday, November 25, 2012 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, November 23, 2012 at 4:10 p.m.

Since the results of the Nov. 6 election, we have been bombarded with letters and comments concerning the demise of the “good ol’ U.S. of A.” by our obviously Republican brethren. I suspect that the angst and unmitigated anger about President Barack Obama’s re-election has nothing to do with the country’s welfare in general but outright lingering fear of the 2008 recession into which we slid and the continuing disrespectful tone coming forth about the president. I’m sorry, but he has been re-elected.

Before continuing this assault on the president’s record of the past four years — wherein the only thing the Republicans have contributed is “No!” ­— I suggest we all do some math and see where the real $16 trillion deficit originated. This is not difficult and does not take a lot of time.

Simply use the beginning and ending dates of the three administrations of the predecessors to Obama and look at only the deficit upon entering and leaving office.

President Jimmy Carter left office in 1981, and the national debt was $706 billion.

President Ronald Reagan, 1981-89, debt was $2.601 trillion

President George H.W. Bush, 1989-93, debt was $4.001 trillion.

President Bill Clinton, 1993-2001, debt was $5.628 trillion.

President George W. Bush, 2001-2009, debt was $9.654 trillion.

Using arithmetic, the debt increased by $7.9 trillion under Republican presidents as opposed to $1.6 trillion under a Democrat president. Using those figures, it would have taken 4.9 Democratic presidents to equal the debt amassed by three Republican presidents. Also remember that during the Clinton and Bush II terms, Republicans controlled the House for 12 of the 16 years. How could we have possibly gone so far in debt under that Republican control? Just asking.

We can solve this debt problem, but not by continuing to talk about tax cuts for the “job creators” and wasting time worrying about who is “taking” and who is “giving.” The job creators have got to create jobs and hire workers at a decent wage. Job creation that creates positions paying $7.35-$9 an hour is not job creation, but rather enslavement. One cannot live on $15,000-$18,000 a year, much less feed and clothe a family of even two. Our debt is going up because so many unemployed are not paying income taxes because they have none, and many are in low- or lower-wage jobs. Read your newspaper, and look at the jobs that are advertised and the pay being offered.

We have no business having Social Security and Medicare on the budget and talking about the costs of those programs. They have income and are the only budget items with income. Remove them from the budget process and see what our debt is then.

We need to stop the 2 percent decrease in the payroll tax immediately and build upon the $1.3 trillion surplus presently held in U.S. Treasury notes. We will never know the true deficit until we have set the so-called “entitlement” programs separate from the budget. Please note, I did not include Medicaid, as it is a separate program and should not be discussed in connection with Medicare.

If the “job creators” do some hiring and we institute the Affordable Care Act, we should be able to decrease the present costs to both the federal and state governments for Medicare.

Finally, to my fellow white males out there, I have a piece of advice. Stop worrying whether you are the majority, and accept that you are now part of a multicultural society in which we are no longer that majority. Also gentlemen, remember there also are more white females than white males. We can all do this if we but remember, as someone once said, you can’t go back, no matter what it is that you feel we have to go back to.

Lorne Lister retired from the U.S. Navy after a 20-year career as a personnel administrator. He lives in Ocklawaha.

<p>Since the results of the Nov. 6 election, we have been bombarded with letters and comments concerning the demise of the “good ol' U.S. of A.” by our obviously Republican brethren. I suspect that the angst and unmitigated anger about President Barack Obama's re-election has nothing to do with the country's welfare in general but outright lingering fear of the 2008 recession into which we slid and the continuing disrespectful tone coming forth about the president. I'm sorry, but he has been re-elected.</p><p>Before continuing this assault on the president's record of the past four years — wherein the only thing the Republicans have contributed is “No!” ­— I suggest we all do some math and see where the real $16 trillion deficit originated. This is not difficult and does not take a lot of time.</p><p>Simply use the beginning and ending dates of the three administrations of the predecessors to Obama and look at only the deficit upon entering and leaving office.</p><p>President Jimmy Carter left office in 1981, and the national debt was $706 billion.</p><p>President Ronald Reagan, 1981-89, debt was $2.601 trillion</p><p>President George H.W. Bush, 1989-93, debt was $4.001 trillion.</p><p>President Bill Clinton, 1993-2001, debt was $5.628 trillion.</p><p>President George W. Bush, 2001-2009, debt was $9.654 trillion.</p><p>Using arithmetic, the debt increased by $7.9 trillion under Republican presidents as opposed to $1.6 trillion under a Democrat president. Using those figures, it would have taken 4.9 Democratic presidents to equal the debt amassed by three Republican presidents. Also remember that during the Clinton and Bush II terms, Republicans controlled the House for 12 of the 16 years. How could we have possibly gone so far in debt under that Republican control? Just asking.</p><p>We can solve this debt problem, but not by continuing to talk about tax cuts for the “job creators” and wasting time worrying about who is “taking” and who is “giving.” The job creators have got to create jobs and hire workers at a decent wage. Job creation that creates positions paying $7.35-$9 an hour is not job creation, but rather enslavement. One cannot live on $15,000-$18,000 a year, much less feed and clothe a family of even two. Our debt is going up because so many unemployed are not paying income taxes because they have none, and many are in low- or lower-wage jobs. Read your newspaper, and look at the jobs that are advertised and the pay being offered.</p><p>We have no business having Social Security and Medicare on the budget and talking about the costs of those programs. They have income and are the only budget items with income. Remove them from the budget process and see what our debt is then.</p><p>We need to stop the 2 percent decrease in the payroll tax immediately and build upon the $1.3 trillion surplus presently held in U.S. Treasury notes. We will never know the true deficit until we have set the so-called “entitlement” programs separate from the budget. Please note, I did not include Medicaid, as it is a separate program and should not be discussed in connection with Medicare.</p><p>If the “job creators” do some hiring and we institute the Affordable Care Act, we should be able to decrease the present costs to both the federal and state governments for Medicare.</p><p>Finally, to my fellow white males out there, I have a piece of advice. Stop worrying whether you are the majority, and accept that you are now part of a multicultural society in which we are no longer that majority. Also gentlemen, remember there also are more white females than white males. We can all do this if we but remember, as someone once said, you can't go back, no matter what it is that you feel we have to go back to.</p><p><i>Lorne Lister retired from the U.S. Navy after a 20-year career as a personnel administrator. He lives in Ocklawaha.</i></p>